The lifting of barbells is a very popular pastime both as a body building exercise and as a sport in which weight lifters compete to lift the heaviest weight. In the lifting of a barbell, the object is simply to lift the barbell in a predetermined manner, and any additional tasks that must be performed by the lifter will simply detract from his ability to make the desired lift. As a result, it is common in competitive meets to have two people to present the barbell to the lifter when the lifter is in position to lift the barbell. This does away with any additional tasks which would somewhat tire the lifter and not allow him to make his best lift. It will of course be understood that the presentation of a barbell by two people subjects the presentation to variations between lifters.
There have been some racks for supporting a barbell or the like, but it has been almost impossible for a lifter to take the weight from the rack and then make the lift. If the lifter is able to take the weight from the rack, the barbell will hit the rack when the lift is made. Thus, a lifter has been required to have a second person to hand him the barbell; and, again, the presentation of the barbell is subject to variations. Other racks and devices have been provided to assist a weight lifter, but these have frequently been very elaborate structures, sometimes with safety features that may be desirable for a person practicing alone, but they do not provide practice to the standards that will be demanded in competition. Such devices are also generally quite complex, rendering them difficult and expensive to manufacture so that only well equipped gymnasiums or the like would generally have such equipment.